Chapter Fourteen
Atticus woke with a start, unease creeping into his veins. Celine lay on the floor next to him, tossing and turning. Her small frame shivered as she battled the nightmares once again.
The sight tore at him. He could protect her when she was awake, but there wasn’t anything he could do for her when she was asleep.
His discomfort again gave way to wariness. He had awoken for a reason, and he needed to figure out what it was.
Atticus continued to stare down at her as the wind up above them howled. A heavy breeze filtered through the holes in the chamber and sent a chill through him despite the warmth in the air.
No. Something wasn't right. An enemy was near. He couldn’t see it, hear it, or smell it, but he could feel it deep inside. It wasn't Thrax, but it wasn’t the hybrids either.
Something lurked nearby, watching them as they lay sleeping. He glanced around, looking for red glowing eyes in the distance. Nothing.
Atticus bit back a growl. He was a hybrid with superior senses. An enemy shouldn’t have been able to hide from him.
He spared a glance at Celine. She continued to shiver on the floor. He placed a hand on her shoulders and listened as the howling grew worse. The wind swept through the room now. Steam rose from the water as the cold air met the warmth.
Atticus wondered if he was just imagining things. For the first time, he regretted hiding in the sulfur-soaked cavern. If he could have picked up his enemy’s scent, at least he would have known if they were close.
The light dimmed. He frowned. The entire cave wasn’t exactly bright, but the holes in the top provided enough light for even Celine to see comfortably. Now, it growing darker second by second.
Atticus frowned and looked up, narrowing his eyes. Something was filling the holes, shadows spreading over the top of the cave, thick, almost like black ink.
He bit back a growl. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn’t Thrax.
The shadows sealed the holes, leaving the cavern in such complete darkness that even Atticus found his superior hybrid night vision strained. A low hum sounded at the edge of his hearing.
The shadows dripped down the walls and pooled on the floor. The dark pools rippled and oscillated in an uneven pattern, as if shuddering and convulsing. He’d never seen anything like it. Shadows didn’t move like that, and liquids didn’t move like that either.
Atticus stood. Whatever this was, it had waited for its opportunity. Waited for him to sleep. Waited for the chance to come at them when he might be more vulnerable.
The question remained how he could even fight it. A Glycon had a body to strike, bones to crush. How could he fight shadows?
A loud clacking sound came from the left of the cavern. It echoed through the passageways and sent a chill down his spine as he realized the implications.
Their exits were blocked. Even if Atticus had wanted to take Celine and run, they would be attacked before they even reached outside. If they waited, that would happen anyway.
Atticus breathed out and saw his breath in the air. An icy chill filled the room. Bits of frost coated the water nearby. Unnerving and unnatural.
With no escape and no other options, Atticus held on to one other hope: that he could find something to fight.
Shadow Man. Celine had spoken of him. A man had to have a body.
"Come out," Atticus said quietly. “I know you’re there.”
The shadows stilled for a moment. He wondered if it was assessing its chances. A very real possibility. Atticus wasn’t sure just what this was, but it was very likely that he wouldn’t be able to face it on his own.
Still, he wasn’t going to let the shadows know that. It had waited to attack them while they slept and was hesitating now. That meant it had a weakness, something that Atticus could exploit.
To the right, something else moved. This time it wasn’t only a creepy sound or strange sensation but something different. Something far more tangible.
Atticus watched as the shadows pooled in the deep blue water near them. This time there was no sound, not even the low hum. The inky black of the shadow swallowed the deep blue in an instant.
A head emerged from the water, a black shadowy head but with one familiar detail: piercing blue eyes. It rose in silence, turning to stare at the sleeping woman on the floor.
Atticus growled and glared at the shadow, stepping in front of Celine. He didn’t care what the hell it was. There was no way he would let this thing get to his Vestal. It would have to kill him first.
Seeing it now, despite the adrenalin coursing through him, he felt more confidence. The confidence born of familiarity.
The hybrids had fought this creature before, this being that moved in the shadows. He’d wondered when Celine described her dreams if that might have been the case.
Sergius had fought and been injured by it. They had all wondered if the hybrid had defeated it as it hadn’t come back since.
Apparently not.
Atticus flexed his fingers, taking a few deep breaths. If Sergius could fight this thing, then so could he.
"I will not let you have her," Atticus said to the shadow.
A hissing sort of laugh came from the shadowy figure as it stepped out of the pool of water. Atticus moved forward, ready to do what needed to be done.
It stared at him for some time. Examining him. Watching him intently.
It took a step forward. Its inky body slashing out across the floor, reaching out to them.
“No,” Celine moaned.
The shadow stopped at her words. It stared at the woman before looking back to Atticus. Again, it moved forward. This time its intent clear.
“No!” Celine shouted in her sleep. A bright blue light filled the room, bouncing against the inky black, breaking it up as it did so, returning the shadows to the nothingness from where they came. The Shadow Man rushed back.
The hybrid stared down at his Vestal. She still lay sleeping on the floor. She shivered so hard her teeth rattled.
He turned back to where the shadow had been, ready to take on the thing if it decided to gain any further ground.
Instead he spotted the retreating form as it slipped back into the pool. The darkness drifted away, and he was suddenly left alone.
He glanced furiously around the cave. Light streamed in again through the holes. The only shadows left were the kind that didn’t move on their own and invade water.
Atticus dropped to the ground next to Celine and wrapped his arms around her body. She nestled her body against his. Her hand reached out to touch his tattoo, and the fear she seemed to have before slipped away.
Her shivering subsided, and she lay, still sleeping, next to him, now far more restful than before.
Atticus wasn't quite certain what had happened, but he was glad not to have to fight another battle. Whatever the case, it had been Celine who had chased it off with her bright light.
It baffled him really. The connection. The blue light. None of it made sense. Well, unless he wanted to believe they were actually descendants of the Atlanteans and ultimately of Atlas.
No matter how strange it seemed, all the evidence kept pointing to the same thing.